Deadlift Day; Essentials Only Warm-up (Part 5)

 

Back for our final installment of the Essentials Only Warm-up series 🥲 Previously we touched on essentials-only warm-ups for your overhead press, squat and bench press day. Last but certainly not least, let’s talk deadlift day.

FULL-BODY MOVEMENT

If you’ve been around for the first 4 parts of this series, you probably think I’m beating a dead horse here. So to keep it short & sweet: Move your full body in some way at a low intensity for 5-10 minutes to start your warm-up.

Walk, jog (slowly), cycle, jump rope, rower, stair climber, elliptical, dance. Take your pick!

MOBILITY WORK / MOVEMENT PREP

There are a lot of deadlift variations you might have in your workout program. For the sake of today’s post, I’m offering my suggestions for a conventional deadlift day… although a lot of what you’ll read here could potentially be applied to a sumo deadlift, deficit deadlift, etc.

Typically for a conventional deadlift day I touch on:

  • Dynamic core work

  • Hip mobility

  • Hinge prep

Dynamic core work: You’ll almost always find me programing some type of deadbug variation for this.

The wall daedbug specifically is a great option. Here’s how to do it:

  • Find an open space on a wall or a sturdy surface you can press into without it moving

  • Lay on your back so your head is a foot or so away from the wall

  • Press your hands into the wall behind your head as you pin your ribs down and flatten your back to the floor, engaging your core

  • Slowly lift both legs off of the ground and bend the knees to a 90Âş angle

  • One at a time, extend a leg out so your heel hovers over the floor

  • Bring your leg back in to the bent position and extend the other leg

  • Alternate legs extending as you continue pushing into the box behind you

Checkout the clip below to see the wall deadbug in action!

Honorable mentions: stability ball deadbug, birddog, plank leg lift, side plank abduction

Hip mobility: A favorite of mine is a weighted hip opener.

The purpose is to work the hips into a more open position to prepare your glutes, adductors & abductors to handle heavy loads as your pelvic bones move through internal & external rotaiton.

How to execute:

  • Grab a weight

  • Get into a tall kneeling position & bring one knee up, placing that foot out around a 45Âş angle from your midline

  • Keeping your torso upright & tall, hold the weight with both hands extended towards the floor

  • Brace your core & slowly lean into your angled leg

  • Drive your knee in the direction of your toes, allowing your knee to go over your toes

  • Hold the furthest lean you can for 5-10s as you continue to hold your hips in place (not letting your hips jut out behind you/shift to the side) & keep your torso tall

  • To make this more intense you can bring your foot more out to the side & less in front of you

  • Repeat the same angle & hold on both sides

Honorable mentions: Hip airplanes, adductor rock back, 90/90 hip rotations, sprinter steps

Hinge prep: Front-loaded good mornings are a staple for me.

This exercise is implemented to focus on the hinge specifically AND by doing this as a front-loaded variation it can also improve awareness of your back muscles holding the bar close to your body.

  • Grab a light weight & hold it with both arms at/against your chest

  • Stand with feet hip width apart & engage your core (pin those ribs to our hips!)

  • Put a slight bend in the knee as you push your hips back into your hinge

  • Focus on glutes going back as far as you can, think about hovering over a port-a-potty

  • Hold your hinge for a moment, then slowly bring your hips forward to the starting position

  • Repeat for reps

Honorable mentions: Cossack squat, single leg RDL freeze, kb deadlift

Warm-up Sets

Warm-up sets should be used to build into working loads & progressively get heavier & heavier as you go... although we don’t want to build fatigue with these sets so make sure you’re taking ample rest time between them. Depending on how big of a gap there is between light loads & heavy loads for you, 1-3 warm-up sets will probably suffice BUT you can always add more if needed.

For compound lower body lifts, I suggest increasing weight 10+ pounds in each warm-up set. Again this depends on the gap between your light load & working loads so it will vary person to person.

And overall, remember there are no specific “rules” for warm-up sets! Do what feels good for you & helps you tune into your form, core engagement & hip hinge.

Put it all together:

  • 5-10 mins full-body movement of your choice

  • 2-3 rounds (rest as needed or ~30s between exercises & rounds):

    • dynamic core work; 2 sets, 4 leg extensions / side

    • weighted hip opener; 2 sets, 3 leans with 5-8s hold / side

    • front-loaded good morning; 2 sets, 10 reps, light load

  • 4 warm-up sets @ RPE 5.5, 6, 7, 7.5

And there you have it! A simple warm-up for your deadlift day that will ease you in and prep your joints to handle some heavy loads.

That wraps up our essentials-only warm up series on the blog. I hope you’ve enjoyed this & learned something new.

Any questions about warming up for your deadlifts (or any other lift) drop a comment below!

 
 
 

HEY, I’M KIRSI!

Certified Personal Trainer & online fitness coach
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Kirsi Cochell